And talk about somewhere over the rainbow. These Munchkins are no cookie-cutter little people. As director and music teacher Carmalyn Buleje Cook notes, they reflect a broad range of diversity and heritages, from Togo, India, France, Italy, Mexico and more.

Cook, who was named a Yale Distinguished Music Educator last June, was undaunted at a weekday rehearsal when the school was put into a 90-minute lockdown because of a neighborhood incident. She and Tricia McGovern, the library media specialist who is assisting with preparation, picked up where they left off, taking the kids through their paces.

"A casting call went out from the Shubert, and my principal Gina Wells let me know about it," says Cook, who selected the kids she knew could handle the singing, dancing and acting for the audition.

"All of these children play an instrument, and most have been in productions we've had here," says Cook, who has taught at Daniels and before that, Prince, for more than 20 years.

McGovern's daughter Grace choreographed the audition presentation to show off the little thespians to their best advantage.

McGovern says, "We wanted to see children who could sing and dance and show animation."

Availability was also a must, because the final rehearsals go through school vacation week. Not all parents would be able to transport the kids back and forth to rehearsals.

It marks the first time any of the children, who range from 8 to 11 years old, will be performing with a professional company.

While they are on stage for a total of 12 minutes throughout the production, their performance standards, as outlined in exacting detail in the Munchkin Bible, are expected to live up to the professionals, which is the task that Cook and McGovern have taken on.

"We have to be completely ready before the show starts," says Cook. "We have to completely prepare them," which they've been doing since October. "They all have a DVD, too, so they're watching it at home."

Always the teacher, Cook mined the educational opportunities.

"They all came up with their own Munchkin names and wrote stories about themselves," she said, as the kids gather in a circle to read some of them to a visitor, rattling off some of those alter-ego names: Valerie, Scotty, Larry, Lillipo, Marilyn, Bob the hungry band player, Daisy.

Ercis (real name Victoria) is the daughter of a home-school teacher and is "very, very playful." Derek (real name Tomas) was "abandoned by my family. Now I'm 16, and I was rescued by Marilyn." Bubble (Audrey) says she chose the name "because I am very playful. I get a little shy and into trouble when the mayor's around. I was born on Valentine's Day."

No lack of imagination there.

They are not only Munchkins, but also lollipops and lullaby girls. For rehearsals, they were color-coordinated in primary-color T-shirts, with numbers on their chests that coordinate with the costumes which are coming from London. They'll see those for the first time and block on the Shubert stage three hours before Thursday's opening.

They regrouped for another go at "We're Off to See the Wizard," and "Ding, Dong, the Witch Is Dead," their voices getting more confident, their movements more sure with each request to "Do it again."